Improvement in turbine water-wheels



c. BARBER. TURBINE WATER-WHEEL.

PatentedFeb.6,1877.

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Para tirreno CHARLES BARBER, OF MEAFORD, ONTARIO, CANADA.

IMPROVEMENT IN TURBINE WATER-WHEELS.

Specification forming part ofLetters Patent No. 187,083, dated February6, 1877 application tiled August 23, 1876.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES BARBER, of Meaford, in the county of Grey,in the Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements on Turbine Water-Wheels; and Ido hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

The object of this invention is to communicate the full momentum of thewater to the wheel without compressing or wedging Within the same, andto control the ingress of water thereto; and it consists in thecombination, with the top ring of the cover or casing of the wheel, aconcentric movable ring having eccentric slots, in which friction-blockson the pin-heads of the movable gates engage, said slots formed in amanner to open the gates equally on all proportions of gate-opening,thus making the gate to register the amount of water used. Said movablering is held in position by radial arms and hub fitting on a collar orneck of the wheel-case, so that when the ring is partially rotated bymeans of a pinion on the case meshing with a rack on the movable ring,the movable gates are closed on the Xed chutes, thus controlling thevolume of passing water, or totally excluding it, as may be desired.

My invention further consists in combining, with eccentric chutes,buckets whose outer ends will be perpendicular, or nearly so, to thetangents of the inner ends of the curved chutes, and whose inner endsare inclined inward seventy degrees, or thereabout, from the radii ofthe wheel.

The invention further consists in constructing the buckets withscoop-shaped lower ends, inclining downward, and terminatin g at anangle of about twenty degrees from a horizontal plane.

Figure l is a top view of my improved water-wheel. Fig. 2 is ahorizontal section, and Fig. 3 a vertical section, of the same.

A is the body or cover of the wheel, which may be cast with buckets B,ring C, and heelbuckets D entire, or each part may be made separate, andsecured to the cover A by bolts or other fastenings, in the respectivepositions shown. rlhe form and position of the buckets B toward eachother and to the guide-chutes H are shown in Fig. 2. The buckets B aredescribed from the tangent of the chutes H, which tangents theyintersect at right angles, thence curving back as they pass in, anddischarging the water in lines inclining inward at seventy degrees, orthereabout, from the radius of the wheel, or twenty degrees from theline of the motion. The buckets preferably extend inward about half-Wayto the center of the Wheel. The cover or body A is adjusted to the shaftI, and both it and the ring C are accurately turned and fitted torevolve inside of the rings F F, and thus prevent the escape of water.The ring C should be about the Width of one throat of the chutes H, andto it and to the bottom of the buckets B are attached or cast therewithheel buckets D, which are formed of curved chutes, inclining downwardly,and terminating at an angle ot' twenty degrees, or thereabout, from ahorizontal line. The rings F F and the xed chutes H may be castintegrally, or, if separately, they are united by bolts G, passingthrough lugs on the chutes and fastened by nuts to the rings. The chutesH and gates J are described of a single curve from points concentricwith the center of the wheel, and are tangentially at right angles withthe buckets B, so as to guide the water into the wheel, and to formopenings or throats where they overlap each other, as shown in Fig. 2.The wheel A is set within the rings F F, and its shaft I stepped by apivot-center into a bridgetree, G', which is bolted to the lowerrim F ofthe wheel-Casin g. The upper part of the shaft is journaled in a hollowneck of the cover A. The movable gates J alternate with the fixed chutesH, and are centrally pivoted to the rings F F at the top and bottom ofthe case by rods K, passing through lugs in the gates, so as to balanceand close against the Xed chutes H, and thus exclude water from enteringthe wheel; or, by partially opening the gates, a volume of water can belimited to the power required.

The movable gates are operated simultaneously by means of a movablering, A', lying on the upper ring F of the case, and held concentricallyby radial arms J' and hub I', litting over the neck K' of the case A.The ring A' is dat and broad, and in it are eccentric slots L, in whichthe controlling-pins H of the gates, fitted With friction-blocks, Workslidingly. The pins pass through the upper ring F of the case, inslotted holes, and are secured to lugs on the movable gates. The ring Ais operated so as to partially rotate on its axis by means of a pinion,F', on a shaft engaging with a rack, M, on the ring, so that by turningthe shaft the ring is made to partially rotate and slide the pins H' andtheir friction-blocks in or out, as the case may be, and thus move thegates on their pivot-centers, thereby opening or closing the same to therequired extent.

The advantages obtained by my improvements are: the heel-buckets takethe surplus Water as it loses velocity, and use its remaining momentum;the wheel is less liable to break than wheels having the whole of thechutes movable, as only a moiety ofthe chutes or gates are movable, thefixed ones being perfectly tight; that in all positions of the gates thewater is always applied at the same angle, all the water being carriedinto the wheel'by the stationary chutes or guides, when the movablegates are swung out as shown in Fig. 2, thus preserving the originalrelation of guides to buckets, and securing the immedi ate action ot'the water; that by the above combination a greater percentage of usefuleffect is produced from a given volume of water than has heretofore beenaccomplished, as both the wasting and wedging of water are avoided.

I claim as my invention- 1. The movable ring A', rotating on its axis ontop ring F of the casing, and having eccentric slots L, engaging withthe frictionblocks of the controlling-pivots H of the movable gates J,for simultaneously opening andl closing the gates by partially rotatingthe ring, as set forth.

2. The combination,with the eccentric chutes H, of buckets B,intersecting the inner ends of the chutes perpendicularly to thetangents of the latter, extending backward and inward about half-way'tothe center of the wheel, and terminating in tangents inclined inwardaboutseventy degrees from the radii of the wheel, or twenty degrees fromthe line of motion.

3. The combination, With the` upper buckets B, of concave orscoop-shaped heel buckets Vor extensions D, inclining downward, and ter-

